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Monthly Archives: March 2014

Bryan and I took a childbirth class before each of our babies. He really enjoyed each one. ;P

Our first was given by a labor and delivery nurse. Natural birth people say those classes are to just teach you how to be a good patient and accept all the interventions They want to throw at you. In Their defense, They do a really good job of maximizing positive health outcomes with their interventions. South Sudan loses 2054 mothers for every 100,000 live births. The United States loses 21 (CIA World Factbook).

Our second childbirth class was taught by a Hypnobabies instructor, in the very room that she gave birth to her daughter. Bryan especially enjoyed this class. In my Hypnobabies class materials, they give lots of reasons why you shouldn’t accept interruptions to the natural birth process, and they can make it seem compelling. Waiting to deliver past 42 weeks isn’t THAT much of a risk, MOST babies don’t need their vitamin K shot, and tearing is MUCH better than an episiotomy. Doctors apparently just want you to have that baby as quickly as possible so they can charge as many delivery fees as possible in one day, and they don’t want to be sued, so they will intervene quickly to eliminate all risk.

So in preparation for baby #3, I wanted to research common childhood practices carefully, for myself. So I started at Wikipedia and took several days to read the articles relating to childbirth. I took the time to actually click through the citations to the online medical journal articles. Reading only the abstracts, Googling unfamiliar words, throwing out out-dated articles, reading lots of articles on the topic, taking notes, and saving citation information led me to my decisions.

I discussed the epidural in my last post on birth. Before I ask for one, I want to exhaust all my non-epidural-or-narcotic options. I’ll practice Hypnobabies self-hypnosis again, doing things a little differently this time.

One problem I had with Hypnobabies was that they tell you to go limp with every pressure wave. I understood it to mean I couldn’t use any of my muscles to support myself, so I wanted Bryan to hover next to me the whole time and hold me up. I want to avoid that situation this time, so I have created an exercise routine that combines yoga with pushups and tricep dips and squats and such so I can be strong enough to hold myself up. At least, I will have put in the time so that I believe myself when I tell myself I am strong enough to hold myself up.

I intend to do this sequence every day. (Today, however, I gave horsie rides while doing cat/cow, there was a little triangle under me when I was in triangle pose, and later on I was visited by a tree-hugger.) When I start Hypnobabies, I’ll practice staying in hypnosis while doing my routine and talking to them.

I wanted to hire this doula. Bryan really doesn’t enjoy birth. I thought that if someone else was there to help me, he wouldn’t have to keep talking about my cervix to people or help me deal with birth goo. But she costs $850. We are thinking we can buy a lot of massagers, hot and cold packs, and aromatherapy oil for that much. I searched on Pinterest for “doula bags” to see what real doulas bring with them, and am planning on getting some of the same things. Additionally, there is a lot of information on the internet about natural birth comfort methods. I checked out this bookfrom the library, which has been really helpful and not too gooey. I read reviews on the other go-to natural birth books. (I think I’ll pass on those.) I went through the scriptures and found verses that I think will help me, like Ether 12:6, 2 Nephi 4:33-35, Alma 7:11-13, 1 Nephi 17:50, 2 Nephi 31:20, Ether 12:26, and others. I printed them out on notecards. I’ll create a playlist of my favorite arrangements of comfort hymns to alternate with Hypnobabies tracks. Also, I found a really good series of pain-coping techniques on youtube.This video introduced an interesting concept to me, and all of her other videos were really helpful too. Here is my cheat sheet for labor.

Now that I’ve gotten all that out of my system, maybe Bryan can stop hearing about it every day.

Heidi was born at 40 weeks (which happened to be exactly 37 months ago today), after a Pitocin induction and an epidural. Peter was born at 41 weeks (which was 20 months ago, today), after a Pitocin induction, attempt #1 at a Hypnobabies natural birth, and an epidural. Both were great. I successfully brought a child into the world each time. But natural birth continues to be compelling to me. I’m not concerned about the risks of the epidural, and I have no problem with drugs. I plan on being comfortably medicated after the delivery. Here are my two reasons:

1. This birth, I want to do it myself. I’m thinking of it as my job to give birth to my baby. Not the doctor’s. It’s my doctor’s job to keep me and the baby safe. If I get the epidural, it will limit my ability to do it by myself. I don’t judge women who get c-sections or have instrument-assisted deliveries: I’ve gotten two epidurals myself, and I know that the birth process is unpredictable and the future unforeseeable. But I want to try to do it myself. (I’m thinking about telling myself that I can get an epidural after twelve hours of labor. Neither of my previous deliveries were longer than that. Being in labor for days sounds miserable.)

2. It is an experience I want to have. I want to know what it feels like to give birth to a baby. Every generation of women between Eve and myself successfully delivered their babies, and only the last one or two avoided feeling the full discomfort. My husband is a marathon runner, and I use that analogy to explain it to him. He could either drive a car for 26.2 miles, or he could run as fast as he can. For hours. Enduring pain and fatigue. Just for the experience. Even when modern technology has developed a way to avoid it.

When Eve was choosing to eat the fruit in the Garden of Eden, she chose mortality, pain, and childbirth so that she could have knowledge. Satan said she wouldn’t die and that it (experience?) was desirable. Satan didn’t tell her that she would die physically eventually, and possibly spiritually also if she didn’t repent. He also didn’t tell her that experience is not always sweet. However, he did say that you need to taste pain in order to be able to taste pleasure, and that you need to comprehend sorrow before you comprehend joy.

I think by having this experience of natural childbirth, I will be able to understand joy more fully. This winter as been a tough one for me. My kids have been sick so often, which makes me feel like I should keep them home away from my friends, which kills me. When we do manage to get out, I go through a monstrous ordeal putting on coats on bodies that may or may not want them on, shoes on wiggly feet, and gloves on twenty fingers. I have no guarantee that any of these items will stay on. When I do happen to catch a moment when all articles of clothing are on, it’s like herding cats through three doors, two flights of stairs, and a long walk to the car. Then it’s like wrestling piglets into pajamas to buckle each one in their carseats, especially because I prefer to take off their puffy jackets and put a blanket on over the seatbelt. And then it’s that entire process to come home again. So when last week the birds started singing and when today we went for a walk to the playground, it was one of my “beautiful mornings.”

If it was always summer, we wouldn’t turn our faces up to the sun in joy, and if the birds always sang, we wouldn’t pause and listen to their song.

But who would choose to turn off the sun and the birds? Well, Heavenly Father chose to turn them off for us in the winter, maybe so we would get so much more joy out of his creations. I’m choosing to experience all the sensations of childbirth, and am hoping to comprehend… something… better.

At any rate, it should make a good story.

My name is Holly.

I graduated from BYU in elementary education. Now I teach three students, my preschooler daughter and my toddling son, and my infant son. I'm passionate about motherhood, family history, and building the kingdom. Allow me to share my thoughts with you!